What makes us human? Why are we the only animals who wear clothes, drive cars, trawl the internet, and fly helicopters on Mars? It's all because we've learnt to talk: yet remarkably, we still don't know how we did it. SPEECH! suggests an answer that's been hiding in plain sight - the simple yet radical shift that turned our analog grunts and shrieks into words. But its consequences are far from simple: being able to share ideas through language was an evolutionary tipping point - it allowed us to link up our minds. SPEECH! traces our roller-coaster ride from hunter-gatherer to urban hipster: an epic tale of the struggle for knowledge against the false gods of culture, religion and identity - as we teeter toward a destination we may still resist, but must ultimately embrace.

About the author: Simon Prentis has spent a lifetime working with other cultures and languages in over fifty countries. A veteran translator and interpreter of Japanese, his clients have ranged from government departments and academic and international institutions to cultural icons like Paul McCartney, Stanley Kubrick, Frank Zappa and Yoko Ono. This is his first book.

"Subtle, erudite and profoundly thought-provoking." - NICHOLAS CRANE
"Such an imaginative and scholarly work." - SIR ANTHONY SELDON
"If you liked Sapiens, you'll love this." - JEE MANDAYO
"Bravo! A compelling read." - YOKO ONO LENNON
"I highly recommend it." - HARPER REED